Welcome to Nutbourne.Org, a community website for the Sussex hamlet overlooking England's South Downs. The site was created by local people predominantly for local people, but everyone's welcome!
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Please click a menu option Welcome, news and events in and around Nutbourne Please click a menu option Nutbourne Residents' Association, Neighbourhood Watch and Local Affairs Please click a menu option A thousand years of Nutbourne and Pulborough history Please click a menu option Visiting, shopping or just enjoying Nutbourne in picturesque West Sussex Please click a menu option Join in, contribute pictures and stories, get in touch or search the site Please click a menu option Contributor credits, information about the Nutbourne Residents Association, the Website and its publisher Please click a menu option
 

The Common at Nutbourne, a key success of the conservation area, is sometimes a playground and sometimes a tranquil spot. Either way it provides not only a remarkable range of flora and fauna but also a wonderful, natural habitat for wildlifeWelcome to Nutbourne.

Nutbourne is a beautiful, vibrant and friendly hamlet near Pulborough in West Sussex, South East England. It boasts a thousand years of history stretching back before the Norman conquest, and has spectacular views across the rolling hills of the South Downs. Our local businesses prove that it's possible to export all over the world while retaining and developing the environment and character of the area. We're proud of our small, unspoilt village that seems a million miles from the hustle and bustle of nearby Horsham, with family homes nestling among farms, workshops and vineyards. We're committed to conserving and enhancing the area.

 

Nutbourne Residents' Association

Many thanks to all those who attended our recent meeting, which took place on Sunday 27 July 2025 at the Rising Sun. It was great to see such a good turnout. It gave an opportunity to discuss the Horsham District Council Local Plan, as well as Highway and Planning Matters. We have now published the Minutes which are available by following this link: Review on screen or download for printing or to keep a copy.

The next meeting will take place on Sunday 26 October, with proceedings kicking off at 7pm at the Rising Sun. As ever we will publish an agenda a few days before the event, and will welcome everyone, especially new members,

Social Events, The Summer Barbecue will take place on Wednesday 20 August. Flyers have been distributed by Jilly Marcusson on behalf of the Nutbourne Social Group. Also for your diary, the Pumpkin Roll will take place on November 2, and this year's Christmas Carol concert will take place at the Rising Sun on December 14.

 

At the heart of the community

Most Nutbourne residents are members of the NRA. We're only a tiny community, yet twenty-one people gave up their Sunday night to attend our last meeting, and, as ever, contributed most of the items discussed. Topics included ways to improve our local beauty spot for future generations by rewilding the recreation ground and continuing to preserve and enhance the heather.

Long before the recent landslide, the Highways Agency had the foresight to include a 'falling rocks' sign on Church Hill, part of the A29 on the way into Pulborough, as pictured by a Google Street View capture van in 2022. They would struggle to get any pictures today! The deteriorating condition of local roads is becoming a major concern for local residents. From the edge erosion and surface damage in Stream Lane which provides a key link between Nutbourne and West Chiltington, to the delays and daily disruption to the routine of many local people caused by recent road closures by Horsham District Council and the West Sussex County Council.

The Highways Agency clearly spotted the danger on the Church Hill, Pulborough section of the A29, installing a 'Falling Rocks' warning sign some years ago.  They should be commended for their foresight even if they predicted occasional minor falls rather than the complete collapse and landslide in December 2022.

 

A major national road, the A29 at Pulborough, brought to a complete halt by a landslip in December 2022. For reasons disputed between local landowners and the Local Authority, the road remained fully closed for well over a year, and only finally introduced a limited alternate one way route controlled by traffic lights to take the pressure off the long diversion route recommended by West Sussex County Council

Eighty years ago, as Britain once again faced enemy bombardment from pilotless V1 doodlebugs and V2 rockets that dropped out of the sky across South East England and caused utter devestation all around. The Emergency Services, ARP and the skilled team of specialist first-responders had one task - to get major roads, public transport and pavements back open so that everyone could keep calm and carry on. Soldiers built bailey bridges over sink holes, workmen propped surviving terraced buildings to keep them habitable, and restored embankments so that roads, tramways and railways could resume service within hours or days not months.

County Councillors didn't have protracted, disputed negotiations with local landowners - they knew that life had to go on.

 

The official diversion, which required drivers to go between 23 and 28 miles to get round a landslip blocking a small section of the A29 Church Hill, Pulborough, West Sussex. Whatever the plan at the outset, far from applying only for a few days or a couple of weeks, repairs reached an impasse that last for almost eighteen months, and only local protests had forced a work around with traffic lights controlling alternate North and Southbound drivers around the obstruction, with the diversion still recommended on line to avoid the queues at the lights at peak times.West Sussex's recommended diversion route, which is still posted on-line today (as shown on the left) required drivers to complete a circuit of 28 miles if they wanted to go from one side of the landslip to the other, taking them through Storrington, Washington and West Grinstead on minor roads before rejoining the A272 back to Billingshurst and southbound A29 to return to Pulborough.

Finally many months later one side of the road had been cleared sufficiently to allow alternate one-way traffic around the obstacle, controlled by traffic lights. The council blames the delays on thr owners of neighbouring properties, who protest in the strongest terms that they have done their utmost of co-operate from the start. Nutbourne residents are particularly concerned at the wear and tear that the heavy traffic has caused on the diversion route. The council says it is investigating .

 

WWW Group the publishers of this website have recently obtained permission from Google to be among the people testing their new Google Earth tools, which produced this interesting view of Stream Lane, starting and return from outer space, but following the road all the way from its origin at The Street/Nutbourne Lane to its end at The Hollow/Mill Road. If your device runs a recent browser you should see the animation, playing from a highly compressed small WEBM file. If not your browser should show a still from the movie.Residents Association members also expressed at our last meeting about road closures closer to home, which have taken a long time to repair, and their concerns that even after a long wait Horsham District Council is penny-pimching making a temporary repair by unblocking rather than replacing failing Victorian culverts, for example. The NRA Chairman, Brian White, agreed to explore their concerns with the Highways Team at the Council. 

The Chairman also agreed to highlight residents' concerns about the continued deterioration of Stream Lane (illustrated right, with thanks to Googe Earth). This winding thorooughfare provides crucial access between West Chiltington and the Village Centre, as well serving major local businesses like the Nursery and the Vineyard. Edge erosion, sometimes causing severe cracking and potholes into the carriageway which make driving dangerous and is believed to be the culprit for many local punctures and other tyre damage.

 

Nuts about Nutbourne

Nutbourne's two vineyards export fine wine the world over

 

Our website is a real community venture, with many residents contributing content and ideas. We aim to celebrate our heritage while also keeping up-to-date on planning, conservation and local news. Nutbourne.org is intended primarily for local people who are members of the Nutbourne Residents' Association, but everyone is welcome, wherever you live. You can even visit 'Virtual Nutbourne' on-line until you're ready to pay us a visit and see for yourself.

 
You're welcome to share your feedback about the website or to contribute photographs, stories or ideas using our new upload links, or simply to register as a friend. We'll do our best to reflect the best of what we receive on-line. One of our goals in laying out the new site is to make it easier to find your way around. To navigate the site, either click a link in the text, or point your mouse to the bright green menu at the top of the page to reveal many more options. Thank you for visiting Nutbourne.org.

Traditional but also practical and up-to-date - a flavour of the diverse unspoilt architecture of Nutbourne in West Sussex

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